


Soft and Smitten

by kiwi_stan



Category: Nancy Drew (TV 2019)
Genre: Ace/Nancy Fall Drabblefest 2020, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:27:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27562258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiwi_stan/pseuds/kiwi_stan
Summary: For the Ace & Nancy fall drabblefest! Prompt: Nancy’s ex-high school friends coms back into the picture. Ace poses as her boyfriend to help her deal with them.
Relationships: Ace & Nancy Drew, Ace x Nancy Drew, Ace/Nancy Drew
Comments: 3
Kudos: 93





	Soft and Smitten

Ace’s phone vibrated three times in quick succession. He glanced around to make sure George wasn’t around (she was a stickler about the “no phones at work rule”, even though Ace just worked in the back) before digging it out of his apron pocket. It was Nancy.

_This is going to sound weird.  
But I need your help with something.  
I’m coming to The Claw. Come out and give me a hug when you hear my voice. _

__Ace’s finger was hovering over the question mark but after thinking about it more he switched to type okay instead. When he first got to know Nancy, he’d promised himself that he would help her however he could. He’d followed through on that so far. He would keep doing it. And the request wasn’t that weird. Not really.__

______He went back to washing dishes, listening for Nancy’s voice. The bell above the door rang, and a high-pitched female voice, not Nancy-definitely not Nancy-said “I remember this place. It’s so quaint!” Ace hoped George wasn’t around to hear someone call The Claw quaint._ _ _ _ _ _

______“It’s so cute that you work here, Nance.” Another unfamiliar female voice added._ _ _ _ _ _

______Ace was already heading for the door when he finally heard Nancy’s voice. She was dressed for a day off, a little nicer than normal, and flanked by two girls who looked vaguely familiar. “It’s not bad,” Nancy turned and saw him. Her face lit up. “But there are some major benefits.” Nancy ran to him and wrapped him in a hug. Ace slid his arms around her, wondering what was going on. Nancy wasn’t a big hugger, and he had thought that he, Nick, George, and Bess were Nancy’s only friends in Horseshoe Bay. However, he was not going to complain about having Nancy closer to him._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Go along with everything I do,” Nancy whispered before pulling away. She took his hand instead and addressed the group. “Ace, I don’t know if you ever paid any attention to us lowly underclassmen at Keene. These are my best friends from high school, Carly,” Nancy gestured to the blonde, “And Helen,” she gestured to the dark-haired girl. “Carly and Helen, this is my boyfriend, Ace.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Nancy had made it clear that she wanted him to play along, so Ace did, smiling and exchanging greetings with the girls. He tried to ignore the fact that they were both looking over him from head to toe. He wasn’t sure if they were trying to remember him from high school, trying to determine if he was good enough for Nancy, or something else, but it felt a little weird._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Do you guys want to head down to the water?” Nancy suggested._ _ _ _ _ _

______“The lovebirds need some privacy?” Helen asked with a suggestive look._ _ _ _ _ _

______“I haven’t seen him all day,” Nancy said, scooting a little closer to Ace._ _ _ _ _ _

______Carly smiled. “I totally get it. We’ll give you some time. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t.” She finished as she headed for the door._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Like that’s a short list!” Nancy called after her. Ace had never seen Nancy like this. She was smiling and laughing and joking, which was great after the year she’d had. But it all seemed fake, not the genuine little smiles she got when George made a particularly snarky remark to a rude customer or when Ace spilled something in the kitchen and ruined yet another shirt._ _ _ _ _ _

______The second the door clanged shut behind her high school friends, she turned to Ace. “I can explain.” She said, dropping his hand. Ace missed their physical contact as soon as it was over, but Nancy was already talking. “Can we sit?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Once they had settled at a corner table, she began to explain. “So Helen, Carly, and I were friends in high school. After Kate died things got weird between us and we kind of fell apart. Then they went off to college last fall and I stayed here and...well you know what happened. I thought the distance would be the final nail in the coffin for our friendship, but Carly messaged me on Facebook about a month ago asking if we could hang out while they’re in town for spring break. I really wanted some normalcy after last year, so I said okay.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“And you need me to pretend to be your boyfriend around them.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“They both have great lives. Away from this town, normal families, great schools, perfect grades, and great boyfriends.” Nancy emphasized the last word. “I’ve been hearing about Landon and Brandon all morning. Yes, those are actually their names.” She added when Ace snickered. “I was already feeling left out for not being away at school. I didn’t want to be the only one without a boyfriend too. So I said I had one.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“So what exactly does being The Nancy Drew’s boyfriend entail?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Not much. They want a lot of ‘girl time’. They want us to get lunch tomorrow to get to know you. And then at the end of the week they want to have a big get together with everyone we used to hang around with in high school. A party on the beach like we used to have.” Ace vaguely remembered that the cool kids at Keene had always had wild parties on the beach on warm Friday nights. Ace had never been. His dad would have killed him if he came home drunk and he preferred to spend his Friday nights at home and learning new hacking tricks anyway. Even three years later, the idea of going to a party with his old schoolmates didn’t exactly sound like a good time. “I know. That sounds horrible. But Helen and Carly really want me to go. And there’s no way I can get through it with just them for company.” Nancy continued as if she had read Ace’s thoughts._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Okay. Let’s do it.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Nancy smiled, for real this time and threw her arms around him. “Thank you, thank you!”  
*_ _ _ _ _ _

______“So, like you’re not in school? You just work at the restaurant?” Helen asked._ _ _ _ _ _

______Nancy squeezed Ace’s hand. The fact that they were sitting shoulder to shoulder and holding hands had been the only bright spot in the lunch so far. Nancy’s old friends had managed to insult Ace’s shirt, the restaurant they were currently sitting in (a diner near the highway that Ace mostly associated with pancake breakfasts with his parents on Sunday mornings but that Nancy had informed him had also been the go-to hangout for the popular kids after football games in high school), the town of Horseshoe Bay, and now Ace’s job. Whenever they said something nasty, Nancy would give Ace’s hand a squeeze or run her hand up his arm, silently telling him not to make it personally._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Yes. It’s where I want to be right now.” He said, trying to keep his tone friendly._ _ _ _ _ _

______“And George Fan is your manager?” Carly said._ _ _ _ _ _

______Ace watched Nancy pick up a French fry from the plate they were sharing, gripping it forcefully. Though she and George hadn’t started out friends, they had become incredibly close through all of the ghostly happenings recently. Ace knew Nancy was very protective of George and considered her one of her closest friends. “She’s a great boss and we’ve become friends. I would like to not talk about her past or our history.” It was Ace’s turn to squeeze Nancy’s hand._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Seconded. George is a great boss and a great friend. High school was a long time ago.” Ace added. Nancy shot him a grateful look._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Nancy, you really don’t think it’s weird that she,” Carly glanced around as if she were checking if anyone was close enough to hear what she was saying, but didn’t lower her voice as she continued, “Had a thing with your dad?” Ace knew Nancy hadn’t told them about her true parentage, but once word started to get around Horseshoe Bay, it had spread to just about everyone who had ever lived there._ _ _ _ _ _

______Nancy looked her straight in the eyes. “No, I really don’t.” She said in an icy tone that made it clear the conversation was over. Ace was proud of Nancy. He knew Nancy was confident, she’d confronted a murderer on her own last year after all, and he was happy she was also able to stand up to her old friends. “Did I tell you guys that Ace is really brilliant with computers?” Nancy changed the subject._ _ _ _ _ _

______This, something considered a profitable skill, got them interested. “Doing what?” Helen asked.  
“Programming.” Ace lied. He didn’t want to bring up hacking (he could practically hear them saying “Isn’t that, like, illegal?”) and he was fairly certain he could learn programming too if he really wanted. _ _ _ _ _ _

______“Ace is working on this really cool app right now.” Nancy said, meeting Ace’s eyes with a “play along” expression._ _ _ _ _ _

______“What does it do?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“It’s basically risk assessment before you post on social media and it blocks you from posting if it’s something really bad.” Ace thought fast. He hoped they hadn’t seen the episode of The Simpsons with a similar plotline. Nancy apparently had, from the smile playing on her lips. “You know, no drunk selfies right before a big job interview, things like that.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“It’ll probably make a lotttttt of money one day.” Nancy added._ _ _ _ _ _

______Helen and Carly were looking at him with a new respect now. “You’d better hold on to him then, Nance.” Helen said, sounding a bit jealous if Ace wasn’t mistaken._ _ _ _ _ _

______Nancy smiled and slid a little closer to Ace. “I was planning on it.” She said, before kissing him on the cheek._ _ _ _ _ _

______To Ace it was the best part of the entire day.  
*  
“So,” Bess began, pulling herself up to sit on the counter. It was a slow day at The Claw, and she was taking advantage of it by hanging out in the back with Ace. “Per a source of mine you and Nancy looked really cute together at lunch the other day.” _ _ _ _ _ _

______“We’re just fake dating.” Ace had, of course, told his platanchor about Nancy’s plan. “And what source?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“You know that the Marvins have friends all over Horseshoe Bay.” She said vaguely. “And I know it’s fake! But you don’t want it to be fake.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Ace should have known that Bess had judged his feelings toward Nancy. She seemed to be an expert at all things relationship. “I like Nancy.” Bess gave him a questioning look. “As more than a friend. I have for a while.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“I knew it!” Bess exclaimed, waving her hands around excitedly. “You should tell her.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Ace shook his head. “You know what Nancy’s been through. I don’t want to push her.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Ace, it’s been months. She’s been getting help and she’s in a much better place now. And,” Bess paused for dramatic effect. “I think she likes you too.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Really?” Ace couldn’t keep the excitement out of his voice. “What makes you say that?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“You don’t trust me?” Bess pressed a hand to her chest and feigned a shocked expression. “Well, for starters, you’re the first person she goes with anything. News, when she needs help with a case, when she wants to talk. Second, she tells you everything. And you know getting her to open up is like trying to get your hands on a Birkin. Third, you haven’t seen the way she looks at you when you’re not looking.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“How does she look at me?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“The same way you look at her. All soft and smitten.” Ace thought he had been pretty good about keeping his crush on Nancy hidden. Maybe he hadn’t done so well if Bess had caught him staring._ _ _ _ _ _

______George poked her head back in the kitchen. “Bess! How many times have I told you not to sit on the counters.” Bess slid to the ground obediently. With all of her old high school bullies back in town, George had been extra on edge. No one wanted to risk making her angry. “If you’re not working, you can go home for the day. It’s not like you need the money.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Bess gave Ace a serious stare. “Remember what I said.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“What were you talking about?” George asked._ _ _ _ _ _

______“I was saying Ace should tell Nancy that he likes her.”_ _ _ _ _ _

_“He should.” George agreed. She turned to Ace. “I can’t take much more of you and Drew making goo-goo eyes at each other when you think no one’s looking.”_  
*  
Ace parked outside Nancy’s house just as the sun was beginning to set. He was picking her up for the beach party, like it was a proper date. A real date. Ace was considering going to ring the doorbell, like he would for Nancy if they were on a real date, but she stepped outside on her own before he could make his mind up. Ace couldn’t help but stare as Nancy approached his car. She was wearing a sundress and looked stunning.

______Ace smiled and greeted her as she opened the door and settled into her seat. “Hey! You ready for tonight?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Nancy nodded with a small smile. Now that she was closer, Ace could see that she looked a little sad. But he knew not to press it. He stayed quiet as he started driving. Nancy would open up when she was ready._ _ _ _ _ _

______As Ace drove through town, Nancy finally spoke. “I’m ready for Helen and Carly to go back to school. I feel like I have to put on an act around them. Like I’m not myself.” She began. Ace was quiet still. He knew Nancy had more to say. “I just kind of wish I still fit in with them. There’s a part of me that thinks my life would be so much simpler if I’d gone off to school like I was supposed to. That if I did that I would just be thinking about whether or not the cute guy in my class noticed me or if I was going to pass an exam.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Ace was at a stop sign, so he turned to look at her fully. “But then you wouldn’t know the truth.” Nancy was quiet and Ace knew he’d said the right thing. For the girl who loved mysteries, not knowing the truth was the worst. “Would you really want to be kept in the dark about your family?” They were near the beach now, and Ace was looking for a place to park. Nancy was still quiet. “Would you really want to be wondering if Trevor from Econ 100 who asked why they didn’t just print more money during the Great Depression noticed you?” That made her laugh._ _ _ _ _ _

______“No to all of those.” Nancy said finally. “Though I’m a little offended you think my standards are that low.” She finished as Ace finally managed to park. “Thank you, Ace.” She touched his arm._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Nancy, if you didn’t go through….everything you went through last year, you wouldn’t be the Nancy that I know,” Ace hesitated. They were in a parked car, on a beach, with the sun setting. If there were ever a moment to confess his feelings, it was now. “And love.” He couldn’t look straight at Nancy as he said it. Despite what Bess said, he was still worried she didn’t feel the same way and that it would be written all over her face._ _ _ _ _ _

______Ace felt Nancy’s hand on his cheek, tilting his face toward her, then Nancy was kissing him. The kiss was good, but much too short, as Nancy pulled away after just a few moments._ _ _ _ _ _

______“I was going to tell you tonight that I didn’t want this,” Nancy gestured between them. “Us, to be fake. You saved me some time.” She kissed him again, letting it go on a little longer this time. Ace tangled his fingers in her hair, unable to remember the last time he was this happy._ _ _ _ _ _

______Ace was the one to break the kiss this time. “As tempting as ditching this thing sounds, Helen and Carly are expecting you.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Nancy sighed. “I guess you’re right.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______They held hands as they walked to the beach, where a crowd of people had already started to gather. Ace heard someone-he still couldn’t tell Helen’s voice from Carly’s-yell as they approached. “Nancy and her boyfriend are here!” Ace smiled, knowing that it was finally true._ _ _ _ _ _


End file.
